cliente

Forms

cliente m or f by sense (plural clienti)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin cliēns (“dependant, client”), the word for a free man under the protection of a patron in ancient Rome.^[2][3][4][5] The same Latin word gave French client (from 1437), Spanish cliente (from 1490), Catalan client and Portuguese cliente, and Friulian cliènt and Romansh client.^[5][3]

DELI and GRADIT call the origin of the Latin noun uncertain.^[2][4] Nocentini takes it as a present participle meaning “one who bows down”, from the root that gave clīnō (“to bend”) and Italian chinare.^[3] De Vaan, in the same line, reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *ḱli-ent- (“who leans”), an active participle of Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (“to lean”).^[6] Devoto, and Wiktionary as one possibility, derive it instead from the participle of clueō (“to be called, be esteemed; to obey”), and Plautus has forms with ⟨clu-⟩.^[7][1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are from the first half of the 14th century: a Venetian translation of Ovid's Art of Love uses cliente for someone who turns to a lawyer, and Lucan's translation from Prato, before 1333, has the form cliento in the Roman sense.^[9][5] DELI's first dates are later: Guicciardini, before 1540, for the Roman client, and Alessandro Citolini, 1561, for a regular customer of a professional or a shop.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From Roman history the word passed to anyone who seeks the favour of a powerful man and, pejoratively, to the supporter of a politician who backs him for advantage rather than conviction.^[10][4] Clientela had the same course: Guicciardini (before 1540) used it for a great man's followers, and a professional's or shop's customers are recorded in 1857.^[2] Clientelismo, patronage politics, appeared in 1963.^[2][3]

The commercial sense spread through most of the dialects, from Piedmontese and Lombard to Corsican and Roman criente.^[5] In computing client is a borrowing from English.^[5]

Timeline

• Before 1333 – Cliento appears in a translation of Lucan from Prato.^[5]
• First half of the 14th century – A Venetian translation of Ovid uses cliente for a lawyer's client.^[9]
• 1479 – Poliziano uses cliente.^[5]
• Before 1540 – Guicciardini uses it for the Roman client, and clientela.^[2]
• 1561 – Alessandro Citolini uses it for a regular customer.^[2]
• 1963 – Clientelismo is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A customer, someone who buys goods or services from a shop or business, especially regularly: Il barista conosce tutti i suoi clienti per nome.^[4][11][12]
2. A client of a professional, such as a lawyer: L’avvocato riceve i clienti il martedì.^[4][12][13]
3. A guest of a hotel or a regular of a bar or restaurant.^[1][12]
4. (history) In ancient Rome, a free man under the protection of a patron.^[4][14][11]
5. (derogatory) A hanger-on who serves a powerful person, especially a politician, in return for favours.^[4][14][13]

Word family

• clientela
• clientelare
• clientelismo
• clientolo

Related words

• patrono
• Latin cliens

Usage notes

Cliente is masculine or feminine according to the person: un cliente, una cliente.^[1][13] The pejorative diminutives are clientuccio and clientucolo.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 15, 41
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 227
11. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier